Egypt.U.S. ambassador Anne Patterson will leave Egypt tomorrow, ending her roughly two-year term in Cairo. Yesterday, Patterson wrote a public letter to Abdel Nasser Salama, the editor in chief of state-owned Al Ahram newspaper, denouncing as “absurd and dangerous” an article in the newspaper that alleged that she was involved in a conspiracy to destabilize Egypt. Patterson further wrote that the U.S. embassy will bring the allegations against her to the “highest levels of the government to protest its publication and the irresponsible behavior that led to it.” David Satterfield will reportedly serve as temporary charge d’affaires until the next ambassador can be confirmed. Patterson was nominated to be the next Assistant Secretary of State for Near East affairs last month.

West Bank. Protesters and Palestinian security forces clashed on Wednesday in Ramallah as police broke up a small demonstration against the resumption of peace talks with Israel. Ma’an reported on Tuesday that Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met in Jericho on Monday, despite an announcement by Palestinian officials that a planned round of talks had been cancelled after Israeli security personnel killed three Palestinians earlier in the day. The two negotiating teams reportedly met at the home of Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator.